Should I buy or sell California Water Service Group stock right now?

3 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for California Water Service Group in the last year. There are currently 2 sell ratings and 1 buy rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "reduce" CWT shares. View CWT analyst ratings or view top-rated stocks .

What is California Water Service Group's stock price target for 2024?

3 analysts have issued 12 month target prices for California Water Service Group's stock. Their CWT share price targets range from $47.00 to $66.00. On average, they predict the company's stock price to reach $56.50 in the next twelve months. This suggests a possible upside of 6.9% from the stock's current price. View analysts price targets for CWT or view top-rated stocks among Wall Street analysts .

How have CWT shares performed in 2023?

California Water Service Group's stock was trading at $60.64 at the beginning of the year. Since then, CWT stock has decreased by 12.9% and is now trading at $52.83. View the best growth stocks for 2023 here .

Are investors shorting California Water Service Group?

California Water Service Group saw a increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totaling 903,500 shares, an increase of 5.9% from the October 15th total of 852,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 281,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days. View California Water Service Group's Short Interest .

When is California Water Service Group's next earnings date?

The company is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Wednesday, March 6th 2024. View our CWT earnings forecast .

How were California Water Service Group's earnings last quarter?

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) announced its earnings results on Thursday, October, 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. The utilities provider had revenue of $254.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $235.23 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 5.29% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 3.04%.

How often does California Water Service Group pay dividends? What is the dividend yield for California Water Service Group?

California Water Service Group declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share on Friday, November 17th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 3rd. Read our dividend analysis for CWT .

Is California Water Service Group a good dividend stock?

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 2.01%. The company has been increasing its dividend for 56 consecutive years, indicating the company has a strong committment to maintain and grow its dividend. The dividend payout ratio is 144.44%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable. Based on earnings estimates, CWT will have a dividend payout ratio of 46.43% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend. Read our dividend analysis for CWT .

What ETFs hold California Water Service Group's stock?

ETFs with the largest weight of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) stock in their portfolio include Invesco S&P SmallCap Utilities & Communication Services ETF (PSCU) , Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF (CGW) , First Trust Water ETF (FIW) , Global X Clean Water ETF (AQWA) , Opus Small Cap Value Plus ETF (OSCV) , iShares Environmental Infrastructure and Industrials ETF (EFRA) , Ecofin Global Water ESG Fund (EBLU) and Invesco Water Resources ETF (PHO) .

What is Martin Kropelnicki's approval rating as California Water Service Group's CEO?

14 employees have rated California Water Service Group Chief Executive Officer Martin Kropelnicki on Glassdoor.com . Martin Kropelnicki has an approval rating of 100% among the company's employees. This puts Martin Kropelnicki in the top 10% of approval ratings compared to other CEOs of publicly-traded companies.

What other stocks do shareholders of California Water Service Group own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some companies that other California Water Service Group investors own include (NCIT) (NCIT) , Ford Motor (F) , SJW Group (SJW) , American States Water (AWR) , Alibaba Group (BABA) , Pfizer (PFE) , Consolidated Edison (ED) , Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) , General Electric (GE) and McDonald's (MCD) .

Who are California Water Service Group's major shareholders?

California Water Service Group's stock is owned by a variety of retail and institutional investors. Top institutional investors include Nuance Investments LLC (3.77%), Impax Asset Management Group plc (2.72%), Invesco Ltd. (1.90%), Northern Trust Corp (1.78%), Morgan Stanley (1.26%) and Bank of New York Mellon Corp (1.12%). Insiders that own company stock include David B Healey , Elissa Y Ouyang, Gerald A Simon , Lester A Snow , Lynne P Mcghee , Michael B Luu , Michelle R Mortensen , Robert J Kuta , Terry Bayer and Thomas M Krummel . View institutional ownership trends .

How do I buy shares of California Water Service Group?

Shares of CWT stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include WeBull , Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Robinhood, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab. Compare Top Brokerages Here .

California Water Service Group Stock Price, News & Analysis (NYSE:CWT)

$52.98

+0.15 (+0.28%)

(As of 09:39 AM ET)

Compare

Today's Range: $52.86
▼
$53.29
50-Day Range: $46.29
▼
$53.04
52-Week Range: $45.44
▼
$65.44

Volume: 6,835 shs
Average Volume: 281,143 shs
Market Capitalization: $3.06 billion

P/E Ratio: 73.58
Dividend Yield: 1.96%
Price Target: $56.50

California Water Service Group MarketRank™ Stock Analysis

Analyst Rating: Reduce
1.67 Rating Score
Upside/Downside: 6.9% Upside
$56.50 Price Target
Short Interest: Healthy
1.55% of Shares Sold Short
Dividend Strength: Strong
Based on Four Factors
Sustainability: +0.43
Upright™ Environmental Score
News Sentiment: 0.45
Based on 3 Articles This Week
Insider Trading: Selling Shares
$139,732 Sold Last Quarter
Proj. Earnings Growth: 17.28%
From $1.91 to $2.24 Per Share

Overall MarketRank^™

MarketRank is calculated as an average of available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

2.50 out of 5 stars

Utilities Sector

33rd out of 86 stocks

Water Supply Industry

4th out of 9 stocks

0.8

Analyst's Opinion

Consensus Rating
California Water Service Group has received a consensus rating of Reduce. The company's average rating score is 1.67, and is based on 1 buy rating, no hold ratings, and 2 sell ratings.
Price Target Upside/Downside
According to analysts' consensus price target of $56.50, California Water Service Group has a forecasted upside of 6.9% from its current price of $52.83.
Amount of Analyst Coverage
California Water Service Group has only been the subject of 1 research reports in the past 90 days.

4.0

Short Interest

Percentage of Shares Shorted
1.55% of the outstanding shares of California Water Service Group have been sold short.
Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover
California Water Service Group has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.2, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.
Change versus previous month
Short interest in California Water Service Group has recently decreased by 0.93%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

3.3

Dividend Strength

Dividend Yield
California Water Service Group pays a meaningful dividend of 2.01%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.
Dividend Growth
California Water Service Group has been increasing its dividend for 56 years.
Dividend Coverage
The dividend payout ratio of California Water Service Group is 144.44%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.
Dividend Sustainability
Based on earnings estimates, California Water Service Group will have a dividend payout ratio of 46.43% next year. This indicates that California Water Service Group will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

4.0

Sustainability and ESG

Overall ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Score
California Water Service Group has received a 55.01% net impact score from Upright. The largest positive contribution comes from its "Societal infrastructure" impact, which is mostly driven by its "Drinking water distribution services", "Drinking water treatment services", and "Industrial wastewater treatment services" products. See details.
Environmental Sustainability
The Environmental Impact score for California Water Service Group is 0.43.

2.5

News and Social Media Coverage

News Sentiment
California Water Service Group has a news sentiment score of 0.45. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This news sentiment score is similar to the average news sentiment of Utilities companies.
News Coverage This Week
MarketBeat has tracked 3 news articles for California Water Service Group this week, compared to 4 articles on an average week.
Search Interest
2 people have searched for CWT on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 100% compared to the previous 30 days.
MarketBeat Follows
1 people have added California Water Service Group to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days.

2.5

Company Ownership

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling
In the past three months, California Water Service Group insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $139,732.00 in company stock.
Percentage Held by Insiders
Only 0.88% of the stock of California Water Service Group is held by insiders.
Percentage Held by Institutions
80.63% of the stock of California Water Service Group is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

3.1

Earnings and Valuation

Earnings Growth
Earnings for California Water Service Group are expected to grow by 17.28% in the coming year, from $1.91 to $2.24 per share.
Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market
The P/E ratio of California Water Service Group is 73.38, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 120.10.
Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector
The P/E ratio of California Water Service Group is 73.38, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Utilities sector average P/E ratio of about 103.34.
Price to Book Value per Share Ratio
California Water Service Group has a P/B Ratio of 2.19. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

See Top Rated MarketRank™ Stocks Here

About California Water Service Group Stock (NYSE:CWT)

California Water Service Group, through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services in California, Washington, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Texas. The company is involved in the production, purchase, storage, treatment, testing, distribution, and sale of water for domestic, industrial, public, and irrigation uses, as well as for fire protection services. It offers its services to approximately 496,400 customer connections in 100 California communities; approximately 6,200 water and wastewater customer connections on the islands of Maui, Oahu, and Hawaii; approximately 37,500 customer connections in the Tacoma, Olympia, Graham, Spanaway, Puyallup, Rainier, Yelm, and Gig Harbor areas; and approximately 10,700 water and wastewater customer connections in the Belen, Los Lunas, Indian Hills, and Elephant Butte areas in New Mexico. The company also engages in the provision of non-regulated water-related services, including operating of municipally owned water systems, privately owned water, and recycled water distribution systems; water system operation, meter reading, and billing services to private companies and municipalities; leasing of communication antenna sites on its properties to telecommunication companies; and billing of optional third-party insurance programs to its residential customers. In addition, it provides lab, wastewater collection, and treatment services. California Water Service Group was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

CWT Stock Price History

30 days | 90 days | 365 days | Advanced Chart

CWT Stock News Headlines

December 1, 2023 | seekingalpha.com

Utilities Are Still Undervalued And Some Are A Buy

November 30, 2023 | americanbankingnews.com

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" from Brokerages

December 6, 2023 | DTI Trader (Ad)

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November 29, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

California Water Service Awards More Than $186,000 in Grants to Eight Fire Departments

November 10, 2023 | seekingalpha.com

California Water Service: A Recession-Resistant Dividend King For Your Portfolio

November 4, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

Director Thomas Krummel Sells 2,220 Shares of California Water Service Group (CWT)

November 3, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

California Water Service Group's Dividend Analysis

October 31, 2023 | markets.businessinsider.com

Analysts Offer Insights on Utilities Companies: Republic Services (RSG) and California Water Service (CWT)

December 6, 2023 | DTI Trader (Ad)

All the trading advice you’ve ever received boils down to this

October 31, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

Zacks Industry Outlook Highlights American Water Works, California Water Service, SJW and Consolidated Water

October 28, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

The past year for California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) investors has not been profitable

October 27, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

October 27, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

Q3 2023 California Water Service Group Earnings Call